1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a block processing apparatus for generating a block from a single serial character array.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional document composing apparatus with a one-line display, a document is paragraphed in a block format or is ruled, using the following techniques:
(A) The number of characters per line is determined, characters are entered while right and left blocks are formed within a line, and vertical blocks are entered in accordance with the right and left blocks. When two adjacent blocks are to be separated by a ruled line, a ruled line mark is entered between the characters or an underline is used.
(B) Block frames are created and controlled independently for the serial character array.
In conventional technique (A), when document editing (e.g., insertion, deletion or the like) is performed, the block is broken. Editing must be performed again in accordance with the block format. In technique (B), when editing (e.g., insertion, deletion or the like) is performed, block sizes become non-uniform. In some cases, characters extend outside their corresponding blocks, and blocking must be performed again.
The following techniques are used to compose a paragraphed block document from a one-line serial character string.
(A) Breakpoint marks are inserted at proper positions in a single serial character array to divide the array into portions, and a frame for divided portions representing vertical and lateral positions of the block is independently created in memory as absolute position data. The single serial character array and its frame are independently created.
(B) Breakpoint marks are inserted at proper positions in a single serial character array to divide the array into portions, and a frame for divided portions is given as m x n matrix data representing the number of vertical and lateral blocks. The matrix data is inserted together with line position data representing the boundaries of the lateral blocks at the beginning of the single character array.
In technique (A), when the document is edited (e.g., using insertion or deletion), document data differing from frame data is updated, and characters can be written over. In technique (B), m blocks are aligned along the vertical direction, and n blocks are aligned along the lateral direction. The position of the boundary between adjacent lateral blocks is given. The head lines of the respective blocks are set to start from the next line of the block immediately above. With this arrangement, even if the document is edited (e.g., using insertion or deletion), block framing can be easily performed. However, two adjacent lateral blocks cannot be combined to constitute a single block.
In a paragraphed block document using character data, the following conventional block width change techniques are used. One technique consists of changing the number of characters per line in each block. Another technique uses a specific function code for characters in each block to change the block width. However, these techniques require cumbersome and time-consuming operations and make the block format difficult to grasp.
There is a conventional column editing apparatus which divides a character array stored in a one-line memory and edits it into two vertical or lateral columns. However, when two vertical columns are further edited to obtain two lateral columns (i.e., a total of four columns) and vice versa, the number of characters in each block to be edited or the number of lines per block must be preset.
There are two types of conventional ruled line processing apparatuses: in the first, a ruled line pattern is directly entered; and in the second, a mark representing a ruled line pattern is inserted as a function between the characters, the ruled line pattern is generated, and the mark is converted to the ruled line pattern. In the latter apparatus;
(1) Only one type of mark is used, and each mark is converted to a corresponding ruled line pattern.
(2) One mark can represent a plurality of identical ruled line patterns.
With technique (1), only one type of mark is required, but the number of marks inserted in the document is equal to the number of ruled line patterns. In technique (2), only one mark is required for any number of identical ruled line patterns, but the number of different types of marks must be the same as the number of different ruled line patterns.
In conventional ruled line block processing apparatuses for dividing a single display document into sections to obtain a block document and drawing ruled lines between the blocks, two techniques are used. In the first, the ruled line frame and the document character array are separately controlled. In the second, the ruled line code itself is treated as a character in the document. When the length of the character array is changed by editing such as insertion or deletion, the ruled line position must be updated.
In conventional ruled line processing apparatuses for surrounding characters with ruled lines, the following techniques are used:
(A) Upper, lower, right and left ruled patterns for surrounding the characters are directly entered.
(B) Two points are specified to draw a straight ruled line.
(C) Two points forming a diagonal line are specified to draw ruled lines constituting a rectangle.
(D) Specific marks representing ruled line patterns are set continuously around the characters and are then converted to ruled line patterns.
With the above techniques, the operator must be able to predict the ruled line patterns. For example, when a single serial character array is edited into a block document which is then to be surrounded by ruled lines, it is easy to enter breakpoint marks but difficult to predict the ruled line patterns. As a results, ruled line pattern input is very difficult.
In a conventional apparatus for composing a document using a one-line display, when a document is blocked and the blocks are surrounded by ruled lines, either a ruled line is drawn at a boundary between the blocks, or ruled line codes are entered as characters while the document is being input. The techniques described above, however, are cumbersome and time-consuming. The document must be composed in consideration of the block format, so the operator cannot concentrate on document composition.
In conventional ruled line document processing apparatuses, the ruled line frame and the document character array are separately controlled. The ruled line codes are entered as characters in the document. For this reason, when the vertical ruled line positions are changed to create a new document format, the ruled line frame must be separately changed, and the character blocks are then fitted in the blocks of the new frame. Alternatively, the ruled line codes are relocated in other positions between adjacent characters to create a new document format, thus making the operation troublesome and time-consuming.